


A Fate Worse Than Undeath

by Dlxm950



Series: Story of a Lost Man [4]
Category: Warcraft - All Media Types, World of Warcraft
Genre: Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-24
Updated: 2019-03-24
Packaged: 2019-11-29 03:07:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18217373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dlxm950/pseuds/Dlxm950
Summary: A trip through portals leads to a bloom of hope and horrible revelations while a hidden plot is revealed and more questions gained that questions answered.





	A Fate Worse Than Undeath

**Author's Note:**

> So this took longer than I thought so its double the length. I hope you all enjoy. Please feel free to comment on what you think and share some constructive criticism.

Tarian and Baine exited the warchiefs tent in a tense silence.

 

The large Tauren looked as though he wanted to speak but could not find the words. 

 

Baine did not know what to say. Here stood the remnants of a man destined for greatness. A man Baine had been proud to call friend. A man who above all else put life first. 

 

Now cursed to undeath. 

 

Truly a fate worse than all others.

 

They quickly arrived at the portal ground. Whirling masses of arcane energy leading to almost every corner of the Horde. Orgrimmar, Echo Isles, and most recently, Dazar'alore.

 

The two gave a shudder as they passed through too the new Horde city. 

 

Tarian had heard about the Troll Empire’s capital city. Dazar’alor. A place older than even the alliance. A kingdom more ancient than the elves themselves, now falling to ruin. An Island that had spent much of its time fortifying and desperate to keep what little it now had. A people on the verge of collapse.

 

Turalyon had spent many a days repeating those very words to Anduin. 

 

As Tarian gazed upon the city he found himself conflicted with his mentors words. While it was undoubtedly old, the rest seemed...inaccurate. 

 

The city itself was beautiful. The city blended in with the nature surrounding it seamlessly. The vines and trees reaching towards it as it sprawled into the sky. The temple itself was massive. Easily taller than Stormwind keep. It was a golden pyramid that embodied everything the Zandalari held true to their beliefs. 

 

They had appeared at the docks close to the market. The market itself was vibrant. Vendors selling their wares. Trolls mulling about looking at new goods from the horde as they flooded the dock. Priests of a sort wandered about offering blessings of the Loa and preaching their teachings. 

 

This was not an empire on the verge of collapse but rather the beginning of a new civilization. Hope flooded the air. Joy sprung from every corner. They had been attacked and yet so soon afterwards they moved as though nothing had happened at all. 

 

The trolls were not falling to ruin. They were far to resilient to the ravishes of time for that. They had been attacked in a moment of weakness. Their enemies would not receive such a luxury again. 

 

The two made their way forward. Weaving through the crowds. Only stopping to assist when asked.

 

Just as they made there way to leave the market Tarian spotted something out of the corner of his eye. 

 

A young troll girl.

 

She stood alone in the hustle of the crowd. Eyes large and searching as tears fell down her cheeks. The other trolls were either to busy or did not notice her as they went about their business. After a few moments watching, and having seen no one else move to do so, Tarian walked over to the girl.

 

Baine paused as Tarian diverged. Giving a look of confusion as his friend suddenly cut off and wadded into the crowd.

 

As he approached the little girl he felt his heart break. Her tears had gotten worse as she openly sobbed on the street. He noticed a little bird doll clutched in her hand. She reminded him so much of his youngest sister in that moment that he could hardly stand it.

 

_ Tears soaked his shirt as his little sister latched onto his shoulder. _

 

_ “Y-you left me!” She sobbed.  _

 

_ He put a hand on her hair and pulled her closer into his neck. He swayed gently side to side and hushed her softly. _

 

_ “I’m sorry. Lisa. So sorry. I won’t leave you again. I won’t.” He promised her. _

 

_ “E-ever?” She stuttered. Her voice quivered still but the tears had fled leaving large red rimmed eyes. In that moment he knew there was nothing he wouldn't do to never see her cry again. _

 

_ “Never.” He promised firmly. _

 

The memory left him as he focused back in on the moment. 

 

He slowly approached her. Giving the little girl plenty of time to notice him. When she didn’t back away he took that as a cue that he could come closer. 

 

As he approached he got a better look at her. She had deep blue skin, much like the other Zandalari trolls, and barely reached halfway up his leg in height. She had dark green hair done up in a ponytail that ran down her back. She wore a bright red tunick that went down to her shoe-less feet. 

 

When he was in front of her he slowly dropped to his knees and placed a hesitant hand on her shoulder. 

 

The girl looked up at him and he offered her a smile.

 

“Where are your parents?” He asked her gently. 

 

“I-I- I don know.” She said. Her entire frame trembling. 

 

His heart broke a little more.

 

“Do you know where they might be?” He asked.

 

She just shook her head.

 

As he continued to talk to the little girl he was completely oblivious to the small crowd gathering around them. 

 

Most of the trolls were surprised to see a Forsaken. Giving nervous looks towards him as they scanned his undead frame. Others whispered in surprise. Shocked to see an undead speak so well with a child. One of their own no less.

 

Baine gazed upon the scene with fondness. It was a comfort to know that undeath had not changed his friend to much. That at his core he was the same. A man who cared. A gentle soul forced into a world where peace was rarely a solution and talking often came to late. 

 

Tarian listened intently to the little troll. His face never dropping the gentle smile as he listened to her explain how she had lost her parents in the crowd. 

 

“How about this?” He told her when she finished. “I am quite tall. If you sit on my shoulders your parents should be able to see you, or, you may be able to see them. I am in no rush.” The last part was a lie. He needed to get to this  _ guest _ as soon as possible. Yet his heart would not let him walk away with this little girl crying alone in the streets. 

 

She sniffed a couple times before nodding her head.

 

He reached out a hand and she took it. He made a show of giving a mighty heave as he brought her up to rest on his shoulders. The little troll giggling as he did.

 

The small crowd quickly disappeared and Tarian was left facing his Tauren friend. 

 

“I see you have made a friend.” Baine teased. 

 

“I suppose I have. What do you say…” He realized with a start that he did not even know the little girls name. 

 

“Surrana.” The little girl provided.

 

“Thank you. I am Tarian and this Tauren is my friend Baine.” He continued. “Little Surrana here has lost her way in the crowds and I have promised to help her find her family.” He said sheepishly to Baine. 

 

Baine just gave a small laugh and a shake of his head. 

 

“Of course. I am sure we can afford the time.”

 

They spent the better part of the afternoon wandering the market with Surrana. Tarian kept her entertained with tails from his time as Anduin's guard while Baine kept an eye out for Surrana's parents. 

 

“...and then just as the man finishes his speech I hear a snore beside me. Anduin had fallen asleep! At his own party no less!” Tarian said dramatically. Surrana gave a chorus of laughter as Baine chuckled from his side. “So then I have too-”

 

“Surrana!” Came a yell from behind them.

 

A young troll woman was running up to them from behind. Her skin was paler than Surrana's but she shared the same deep green hair. Unlike her daughter the woman had two very prominent tusks. Tarian quickly knelled to let Surrana down to the ground. The little girl ran up to the woman with a cry of “Mamma!”

 

The troll woman pulled Surrana into a fierce hug as the two collide.

 

“Ya had me all worried for ya safety. Me and ya fater been worried sick  _ all _ afternoon! What happened?”

 

“I saw a dolly. I wen to go look but when I came back you and Dada were gone.” The girl sounded sad again before perking up. “Then I met Mr. Tarian and Mr. Baine. They were nice an helped me find you.” As she said this she ran back and grabbed Tarians hand and dragged him forward.

 

The troll woman appraised him for a moment as he gave her a sheepish smile and a shrug of the shoulders.

 

“She was crying in the market. When no one else stepped forward to offer their assistance I only felt it right to offer mine.” He told Surrana's mother.

 

The woman's face softened at his explanation. 

 

“Thank you. We been worried sick! Not many would help her like you did.” 

 

“It was no trouble, mam, really. We are all Horde. We do what me must to help each other.” Baine interceded. 

 

Surrana and her mother left shortly afterward. The little girl giving Tarian and Baine a big smile and a wave as they disappeared into the crowd. 

 

“We best get moving.” Baine said. 

 

Tarian watched the the spot where the two had been for a moment before nodding. 

 

Neither noticed as someone followed closely behind them.

  
  


Anduin watched as Lord Cinderwood was dragged into the throne room by Alleria. The man looked wholly undignified as she dragged him by his collar and threw him before the throne.

 

“Lord Cinderwood.” Anduin began. “Why is it that you refuse my call for a meeting. It would have made all of this much simpler.”

 

The large man stood quickly. He took the time to brush of his vest and steady his wig. When he was done he turned to the king and gave a smile. 

 

“My liege I was unaware of such summons. They must have gotten lost in the mail. You know how untrustworthy the communication lines can be during times of war. I do apologize for any inconvenience I may have given you.” The man said. It was layered with such falls cheer that Anduin felt it may make him sick.

 

“Bullshit.” Alleria called. Lord Cinderwood gave a startle before rounding on the void elf. 

 

“Excuse me but you forget your place. Leave the serious matters to the nobility.” Cinderwood said with a sneer.

 

Alleria bristled at his words but maintained her cool. “My name is Alleria Windrunner. I lead the Void Elves. My sister is Ranger General of the silver covenant. I hold more right to be here in my pinky finger than you do in your whole body.” Alleria said. 

 

Lord Cinderwood's face paled considerably as she spoke and just as it seemed he would drop to the ground to beg forgiveness She continued. “But that is besides the point. I found the summons open on your desk when we gathered you. The seal had not been broken recently.”

 

It seemed impossible but Cinderwood paled further. His face turning chalk white as he turned to face the king.

 

“Certainly you cannot be taking her word over mine, your majesty. My family have been staunch supporters of house Wrynn for centuries she is nothing more than-than-than a-an elf!” Cinderwood bellowed in an attempt to swing the king's mind.

 

“I will remind you Lord Cinderwood that her statue stands in the valley of heroes. Her figure stands among our greatest champions. If there's anyone I am going to trust here it is her.” Anduin said smoothly. “Secondly your failure to come when summoned is not why you are here.” 

 

Cinderwood gave a sigh of relief. 

 

“You are here because of the investigation into Tarian's disappearance.” 

 

Then he sucked it right back in.

 

“My king. I had nothing to do-”

 

“Do not lie to me Cinderwood.” Anduin snarled. His calm facade braking. “It is no secret that you held a disdain for the position Tarian held. That you coveted it for your own family. So I will give you one chance. Come clean and your punishment shall be lenient. Withhold information from us and I shall let Lady Windrunner use her power over the void until we find what we are looking for. Am I understood?!”

 

The man was so pale Anduin swore he would turn invisible on the spot.

 

“So what did you do?”

 

* * *

 

Finally, as they moved from the busy market center of Zuldazar to the outer fringes of the large troll capital, Baine stopped. 

 

He turned to his companion and gave a sigh.

 

“Before we go any further we must speak.” 

 

Tarian had known this moment was coming and to spite this knowledge he still found himself wholly unprepared for it.

 

“Tell me, Tarian. What happened?” Baine asked him.

 

Tarian turned his head away. Baine felt the sadness come from his friend in waves as a soft choking noise came from his turned face. 

 

“I was...banished...from the alliance.” Tarian whispered. 

 

Baine was shocked. The very thought of his friend being banished, of being forced to abandon all he had ever known, seemed cruel beyond measure.

 

“You know whats worse? I know for a fact that the only one who can decree a banishment is the high king.” Tarian said giving a self pitying laugh at the end. 

 

“He signed my banishment!” Tarian yelled. His face was awash with rage. All his sadness shoved aside as the anger rose once more. His hands were outstretched toward the Taurien and in his anger a ball of fell fire shot from his hand and into a nearby tree. Barely missing the Tauren chief.

 

Tarian recoiled at the sight. Baine looked at it in fear and confusion.

 

“Fell fire..” The Tauren breathed. His moment of surprise quickly fell to anger as he rounded on Tarian. “What has she done to you! Does she hold no limit?! To  _ force  _ the powers of fell upon an unwilling soul!”

 

“The Banshee did not do it.” Tarian's words were soft. “Along with my banishment came a restriction of my ability to call upon the light. A brand to bar my access and guarantee I could never call upon it again. When I awoke into undeath I could hear its whispers…” The undead man looked on into the forest though his gaze lacked any real fix. “It happens when I am unstable. It feeds upon my emotions and manifests them as power.”

 

Tarian looked Baine in the eye. His gaze was unrelenting and it seemed as though Baine was looking into the abyss of the void itself. 

 

“The Fell calls to me. To surrender my control. To embrace its power. I refuse to do so and I will continue to do so until I am laid to rest.”

 

Baine gave a smile. Perhaps there was still hope. To be cursed into undeath and empowered with the fell. 

 

A fate worse than undeath indeed.

 

* * *

 

Lord Cinderwood cracked like an egg. 

 

“We hatched a plot. Me and a couple of the other noble houses. We thought that if he was not here than you would be forced to pick from one of us.” He said. “I had him banished. Copied your signature and stoll one of the royal seals to do so. I had him sent on a ship to the remains of Teldrassil.”

 

“So you had my childhood companion, my best friend, my brother in all but blood, banished, for the sake of your own status?” Anduin asked angrily.

 

“We did not think you would notice. We thought him nothing.”

 

Anduin was furious. No furious did not even begin to describe his rage. 

 

He almost snapped in that moment.

 

Almost called the guards in to arrest every noble in the kingdom.

 

Almost told Alleria to break Cinderwood's mind.

 

Almost used his _ own _ power to strike the cowering noble.

 

But he did not.

 

Anduin took a deep breath to calm himself before continuing.

 

“Guards!” Anduin called.

 

The guards came in and stood at attention before the throne.

 

“Take Lord Cinderwood to the hold. I want you to note down everything he says. Also send out the other guards to gather any nobles that Cinderwood indites.”

 

The guards gave a salute before grabbing Cinderwood by the shoulder and dragging him away.

 

Anduin and Alleria were left alone in the throne room. 

 

“That took great strength. What you did. Had it been me I would have killed him on the spot.” Alleria said.

 

“Yet my friend still remains lost to me. We know he is banished but I highly doubts he stayed at the tree. All this has done is tell us that he is no longer in Alliance lands.” Anduin responded worriedly. 

 

Alleria stepped forward and put a hesitant hand on his shoulder. Anduin looked up at her and found the elf smiling.

 

“Do not give up hope Anduin. You have friends, family, people who will help you to find him no matter where that may be. In the meantime you have stopped a group of corrupt nobles and halted them before they could do more harm.” She spoke softly. “You can not do everything.”

 

Anduin gave a tired smile and nodded. She was right. He had done all he could for now. He just had to hope that those he trusted could take it from their.

 

“Thank you Alleria. Your words mean much to me as does your help.”

 

“I am glad to have been of service.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to keep up loading them all as separate story's but I am also going to make a single story to continually update.


End file.
